In a must-win situation at the FIFA World Cup 2022, Argentina successfully defeated Mexico 2-0 to move up the ranks and stay alive in the knockout stages. Goals from captain Messi and Enzo Fernandez in the second half ensured Argentina clinched a comfortable victory in Match 25 at the Lusail Stadium.
After a shocking 1-2 defeat at the hands of Saudi Arabia in their opening match, Argentina was looking for a desperate win to keep their hopes of making it to the Round of 16, with France already becoming the first team to qualify earlier in the day.
The match enters play with the referee’s whistle as both teams begin attacking. Mexico are doing well to maintain ball possession, the visible objective being that the ball mustn’t reach Messi by any chance. They manage till around 25 minutes, when suddenly Argentina begin unleashing a flurry of attacks on the Mexican defense. Minutes 35 to 41 sees back to back scoring attempts and free kicks by Messi and Martinez, and suddenly, the Mexicans are under pressure.
6 minutes are added as extra time as the game continues in the same manner with neither team able to score the opening goal. The referee calls the end of the first half with the scorecard standing goalless for now.
The second half begins and Mexico again try to dominate ball possession, but their execution if scoring attempts is rather poor. 59 minutes, Mexico had a scoring opportunity with a free kick from the left. Alexis Vega fires in a vicious shot, but it goes untouched.
65 minutes into the match, Captain Argentina opened the account for his team with a sweet shot in for a goal. The Mexican defenders made a grave mistake by giving him ample space to send in a stunning low shot past Ocha into the Mexican goal, who failed to save it. With this goal, Messi has equalized Diego Maradona’s tally of goals in the World Cup. The action continued past 75 minutes, Julian Alvarez dashes down from the left, and squares the ball in for Messi, but a quick Mexican defender clears it away just in time, averting a certain disaster.
Though Mexico has been keeping most of the ball possession in the second half they have been unable to convert. In the 87th minute, a wonderful strike from the corner by Messi fed the ball to Benfica youngster Enzo Fernandez allowing the latter to take a shot that curled past Mexican goalkeeper Ochoa into the nets. Argentina doubles its lead against the opponents and is now well on route to a certain victory.
In the closing minutes of extra time, Argentina was playing safe and was clearly looking to waste time and do nothing more. After 7 minutes of extra time, nothing goes Mexico’s way as the referee’s whistle ensures that the Argentinians score their first victory of the tournament with a comfortable 2-0 victory.
Mexico indeed made it difficult for their opponents to find a way through for much of the second half, but they eventually let it slip as the Argentinian captain scored a beauty to give his team the lead which was further cemented by another score from Fernandez to seal the deal. Now Messi’s men will just need to AT LEAST tie, and even better, win their next match against Poland, which if they do, will seal their spot in the knockout stages.
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